National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce

Thunderstorms Across the Southeast U.S.; Elevated to Locally Critical Fire Weather in Colorado

A few strong to marginally severe thunderstorms are possible across the Southeast U.S. Friday. A Marginal Risk (Level 1 of 5) outlook has been issued. Strong winds and hail will be the main threats. Elevated to locally critical fire weather conditions will persist across south-central Colorado today due to dry conditions and gusty winds. Read More >

Automatically generated image showing areas of the convective interest parameter.

 

Thumbnail of an automatically generated image showing areas of the convective interest parameter. Thumbnail of an automatically generated image showing areas of the convective interest parameter. Thumbnail of an automatically generated image showing areas of the convective interest parameter.
Hour - 1 Hour - 2 Hour -3

4 Panel Display | Animated Loop

Convective Interest

This is a highly experimental index which attempts to show areas where surface based convection is favorable or may initiate within the next hour.  The index uses a combination of several fields, (CAPE, CIN, low level lapse rates, moisture convergence, satellite, and most unstable LI) to develop a number between -100 and 100.  Negative values are indicative of an environment not supportive of surface based convection.  The higher the value, the more favorable the environment is for surface based convection.  Values greater than 70 are suggestive that convective initiation will likely occur within the next hour in that region.  This index works best in regimes of airmass (or pulse) convection or on days where the cap is the primary inhibiting factor for convection.

Back to Convective Parameters Home